Preached Sunday, August 25, 2013 from 1 Peter 4:7-11
Theme: In this passage, we’re told the four things we should do in the light of the times.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
“But the end of all things is at hand . . .” (1 Peter 4:7a). That’s how this morning’s passage from 1 Peter begins. And it sure sounds ominous, doesn’t it?
You’ll find those words in 1 Peter 4:7—at the very start of this morning’s passage. And when I read those opening words by themselves, they make me think of the old, cartoonish image of a gloomy-looking man standing on a busy street corner dressed in a ragged robe, sporting a long beard, and holding up a sign that says, “THE END IS NEAR!” The apostle Peter wrote this letter to encourage persecuted believers to stand firm in their faith; and that kind of an image wouldn’t seem to fit the idea of ‘encouragement’ very well.
But I would like to begin by considering just what it was that Peter meant by those words. As we do, I believe you’ll find that they fit the theme of this letter very well; and help us better understand the words of instruction that follow after them.
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A first thing to notice is that—in the translation I’m using—that ominous-sounding announcement begins with the word “But . . .” Not all of the Bible translations include that word; but it’s definitely there in the original language of this letter. And that’s important to notice; because that word connects the words of our passage this morning to what preceded them.
Look back to 1 Peter 4:1-6. There, you read:
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (1 Peter 4:1-6).
There was a time when we, who have trusted Jesus, once gave ourselves over to the lusts of the flesh. There was a time when we walked in the manner of those who had no relationship with God. But those days are over for us. We’re done with those old sinful practices. People may speak evil of us for not walking with them in sin any longer. They may ‘judge’ us. But the temporal judgment of men will soon give way to the final judgment of God. And we seek to stand in God’s favor on that day and throughout eternity—even if it means we must suffer the judgment of men for a short time. And that’s why that word “But” is there. It’s there to remind us that we may have to suffer for our faith now for a little while; “But the end of all things is at hand . . .”
A second thing to notice is the phrase “the end of all things . . .” In the original language, the word “things” is not present. Literally, Peter speaks of “the end of all”. And though the word “end” can mean “the termination of all”, it can also speak of “the goal” or “the completion” or “the fulfillment of all”.
I believe Peter is speaking of “the goal of all things”. And when we look at the close of this morning’s passage, we find that “goal” gloriously described for us. In verse 11, it’s “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Even though the unbelieving people of this world fight against the spread of the gospel, and persecute those who believe on Jesus Christ, it doesn’t make any difference to “the goal”. At the end of it all—when all the dust is settled—God will, in all the things that happened, be glorified and His Son Jesus Christ will reign. He will receive glory forever and ever. As God’s people, we should never fear nor give up. We may suffer for a time, “But the end of all things is at hand . . .”
And finally, notice that Peter says that “the end of all things” is “at hand” or is “near”. Peter doesn’t say that the end of all things has arrived. He only says that it is drawing close—that it is near—that it is at hand.
This is important to notice. You’d be surprised by many Bible commentators have faulted Peter and the other apostles for being ‘mistaken’ in the things that they wrote about the Lord’s return. They often say that the apostles thought that the Lord would return in their life-time; and yet, here we are—two-thousand-years later; and the Lord still has not returned. How mistaken they were! It would be hard to trust Peter and the other apostles if they were so wrong about something so important.
But Peter didn’t think that the Lord would come in his own lifetime. In fact, he was pretty sure that He wouldn’t! At the end of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus even told Peter how he would one day lay down his life for Him. In 2 Peter 1, he wrote of how he must shortly “put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me” (2 Peter 1:14). In 2 Peter 3, he wrote of how some would mock and say, “Where is the promise of His coming?”; and he wrote,
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9).
Instead, what Peter wrote was that the end of all things was “at hand”. The Lord Jesus had already come into this world—just as the Scriptures promised He would. He died on a cross for our sins. He was buried in a tomb. He rose again the third day. And He ascended again to the Father—in the sight of Peter and all the other apostles—with the promise that He would one day return in the same manner in which He left. His Gospel has been spreading throughout this earth ever since; and millions upon millions of people have been turning to Him and believing on Him. He is bodily seated at the right hand of the Father right now; awaiting the Father’s command to return to this earth and receive His people to Himself forever. Nothing more needs to happen in terms of God’s redemptive plan for history.
We don’t know when it will be that the Lord will return. Peter certainly didn’t know. But we can all know for certain that we’re closer today than we were the day before—and that we’ll be closer tomorrow than we were today. We are in the final stage of God’s plan; and the only thing that remains to happen next is for the Lord to come for us. He Himself has commanded to watch and wait. We may suffer for a time, “But the end of all things is at hand . . .”
What an encouragement this should be to those who suffer for the Lord Jesus. And how should we live in the light of it all? Should we run and hide in caves? Should we panic because the end is about to come? Should we stand on street corners and gloomily hold up signs that warn of impending doom? Should we all check-out of daily life, put on white robes, sit on a hill somewhere and wait? No. In this morning’s passage, the apostle Peter tells us exactly how to live. And it might just surprise you what he tells us to do.
He writes;
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:7-11).
What a practical passage this is! What a good word it is for us today who live in times when we, like the believers to whom Peter wrote, are called upon to suffer for our faith—and who now live far closer to the day of the Lord’s return than those fellow believers of old did!
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So; what are we called to do? In this passage, we’re told the four things we should do in the light of the times.
First, we’re to . . .
1. KEEP CLEAR-HEADED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER.
Now; who would have thought of that? I’d say we needed God the Holy Spirit to tell us something like that through the apostle Peter—because we’d never have thought to stop and pray in the light of the end of all things on our own! Peter writes; “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (v. 7).
When Peter writes of being “serious”, he is using a word that—in the original language—means “to be clear-headed” or “to be of a sound mind”. We’re to see things as they really are. We’re not to be thrown into a panic, or to become emotional or desperate in our thinking. We’re to keep our heads. That’s an important thing to do in a time of trial, isn’t it? And when he then goes on to write of being “watchful”, he uses a word that means “to be sober” or “not intoxicated”. We’re not to have our minds impaired or clouded by anything. We’re not even to let our thinking become overwhelmed by fear or anger.
In other words, in a time of trial—when we suffer for our faith—we’re to keep focused on the fact that the Lord is coming soon; and we’re to think straight and keep sharp. And do you notice why? It’s so that we can pray. It’s so that we can rightly and accurately use the greatest resource God has ever given to mankind on earth—the power to move His mighty hand by prayer!
When I think of this word of instruction from Peter, my mind always goes to one of the most powerful examples of prayer in all the New Testament. In Acts 4, the apostles had been threatened by the authorities and warned not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus any longer. We’re told;
And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:24-31).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; do you want to know how God wants us to react to the fact that we’re living when the end of all things is at hand? It’s by having our heads clear so we can pray effectively for the spread of the Gospel in these last days! Come to prayer meeting! Join with your brothers and sisters in prayer! That’s how we are to live in the light of the Lord’s return!
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A second way that we are to live is that we are to . . .
2. HAVE EARNEST LOVE FOR EACH OTHER.
Peter wrote, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins’” (v. 8). And again, who would have thought of that? Who but God the Holy Spirit would have thought to tell us that, in the light of the Lord’s soon coming, we should ramp up our love for one another?
Now; when we read that, we might think to ourselves, “But that’s awfully hard to do! How can love my brothers and sisters in Christ ‘fervently’? I don’t even particularly like some of them!” I think it helps to remember that Peter isn’t necessarily talking about having an ’emotion’ toward one another. I think we should have feelings of affection for one another; but I don’t think that’s what Peter necessarily means. Rather, I think it helps to remember that the love Peter is speaking of—agape—is an active kind of love. It’s a love that expresses itself in a willingness to sacrifice our own interests in order to bring about the good of one another. It’s a ‘self-sacrificing’ kind of love. And that attitude of agape love—that willingness to sacrifice in order to bring about the good of each another—is what Peter is calling us to have “fervently” or to pursue “earnestly”.
This is the kind of love that the Lord Jesus commanded us to have for one another. Just before He laid down His own life for us and went to the cross on our behalf, He said,
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
Peter is calling us to an earnest and fervent obedience to our Lord’s ‘new commandment’ in this morning’s passage. It’s something that is needed very much in a time of trial. It’s what characterizes us as Jesus’ own disciples; as we live on this earth in the light of the end of all things. That’s why Peter says it be a high priority for us as fellow-believers—that we should obey this word of instruction “above all”.
Peter goes on to say, “for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins'”. Most of our Bible’s have placed those words in the text in parentheses—as if Peter were quoting something else. And he was. He was quoting from Proverbs 10:12; where it tells us, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins’. But he doesn’t mean that our love for one another covers our sins in the sight of God. That only happens through the blood of Jesus Christ—when we confess our sins and place our trust in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to cleanse us of them. Rather, Peter is talking about how we—in love—overlook one another’s faults and failings. Those faults and shortcomings can become very obvious and irritating in times of trial and difficulty. But we’re to “above all things have fervent love for one another”; because that willingness to sacrifice for one another’s good will help us to overlook those minor faults and failings and be forgiving toward one another. As the apostle Paul put it to the Colossian believers;
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:12-14).
So; a second thing we should do, to live as God would have us live in the light of the times, is to become even more earnest in our love for one another.
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A third thing that Peter mentions is that we’re to . . .
3. BE HOSPITABLE TO ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT COMPLAINT.
Peter writes; “Be hospitable to one another . . .” The word that Peter uses is one that speaks of showing ‘kindness to strangers’. This was very important in Peter’s day—and especially in times of persecution and hardship.
You see; the people to whom Peter wrote—as the very first verse of this letter reminds us—were “pilgrims of the Dispersion”. They were Christians who had been driven from their homeland and who were scattered in various other places of the ancient world. They often suffered poverty and hardship because of persecution. Sometimes, they were Christian teachers who were traveling from their ministry in one city to another. There were no nice “Holiday Inns” to stay in; and the public places where someone could lodge while far from home were often very ungodly and wicked—not at all the kind of places that a Christian should be. It was essential that other Christians needed to open their homes up to help their traveling brothers or sisters. This would have been like what the apostle John spoke of in his third letter when he wrote;
Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth (3 John 5-8).
And do you notice that Peter says that they were to be hospitable to one another “without grumbling” (v. 9)? The word in the original language is kind of a funny one. It’s one that means “to mutter under one’s breath”. But it’s not a funny thing to do. To grumble under our breath at the way another believer may put us out is not the way to express sacrificial love.
I believe that this means we should have a hospitable attitude toward one another. We should welcome one another into our homes graciously—and put one another up for the night when we can. We should have one another over for dinner—even if we don’t have much to offer. As a former pastor of mine once put it, we should be willing to serve beans and not apologize for it. That’s how God wants us to live in the light of His Son’s soon return.
As the writer of Hebrews put it; “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2).
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Now; I see all of these things as connected to one another in a vital way. They’re like the four sides of a complete square. You can’t do without any one of them. In the light of the times, we need to keep a clear head so we can pray together, have earnest love for one another, and show gracious hospitality to one another.
And finally, Peter says that we are to . . .
4. SERVE ONE ANOTHER WITH THE GIFTS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN EACH OF US.
Peter writes; “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (v. 10). The “gifts” that Peter is speaking of are—I believe—spiritual gifts. They are particular endowments that are given to each of us in the body of Christ for the purpose of serving one another and meeting each other’s needs in unique ways.
The apostle Paul spoke about this in Ephesians 4; when he wrote;
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:7-16).
Peter doesn’t make an extensive, detailed list of those spiritual gifts—as the apostle Paul does in some of his letters. Instead, he simply mentions two broad categories. First, he writes, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God” (v. 11a). That is, if you have a gift for “speaking” to the lives of others—that is, if you are a teacher or perhaps a preacher, or an evangelist, or a good counselor and advisor—then put that gift to work! Bless the body of Christ with it. But make sure that you don’t just pour forth your own ideas and thoughts. Speak “as the oracles of God”. Give people God’s sure and reliable word. And then, Peter says, “If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies . . .” (v. 11b). That is, if you have a gift for “ministering” or “serving”—that is, you are good with your hands, or you can fix things, or you can make meals, or you have the resources to make things happen—then put that gift to work! Don’t wait around for someone to ask you. Look for the needs of others in the body of Christ and rise up and meet those needs. But always do so “as with the ability which God supplies”. Stop and ask God’s help; and do what He gives you to do in His power and with His guidance.
And why are we to use our gifts in this way? In fact, why are we to do all the other things Peter mentions in this passage? It’s because of the “end of all” that we’re told at the beginning of this passage is “at hand”. It’s “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever” (v. 11). It’s all to be done with a forward gaze toward that glorious outcome that the apostle Paul described in Philippians 2—the outcome that will be brought about because the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
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Peter ends it all with a bold “Amen”; and so should we! But let’s not just say “Amen” to it all with our words only. Let’s also be sure to say “Amen” with our very lives. In the light of the times—in the light of the promised return of our glorious Lord Jesus—let’s be encouraged to live as God’s word tells us to toward one another.
And may He get the glory!